With the proliferation of portable media players, such as Apple Computer's iPod™, consumers are increasingly consuming audio-visual media content while mobile and on the go. The durability and small form-factor of portable media players make it possible for users to wear such devices discreetly on their bodies, and to do so while moving about in public spaces, commuting, and performing athletic activities. The prospect of users controlling their portable media players while traversing crowded sidewalks, riding subways or trains, jogging, exercising in gyms, etc., presents a challenge to design engineers seeking to provide user friendly human interface devices for controlling these devices.
Remote control devices offer a partial solution to the usability challenges endemic to the control of personal media players. Remote control devices allow users to interact with a control device that is separate from the body of the media player. These remote control devices typically can be carried in hand or attached to the user's body or clothing in a more accessible location than the controls of the portable media player. Nevertheless, currently available remote control devices, most of which rely on mechanical buttons and switches positioned on a planar surface, are still often unwieldy and hard to use. It is unnecessarily cumbersome for typical users to find the correct orientation of such remote control devices, and to do so without sending inadvertent control signals to the portable media player that may cause the device to perform undesirable functions. During athletic activity, it is especially difficult for users to manipulate buttons located on a planar surface that is frequently angled in such as way as to require the user to assume an awkward position or cease their activity to affect the desired control inputs. In addition, these remotes are easy to lose due to their being physically separate from the portable media player itself.
The two prevalent technologies underlying human interface devices for the control or remote control of consumer electronics devices such as portable media players are “mechanical” and “capacitive sensing” controls. Mechanical controls, which rely on traditional mechanical components, have human interface elements such as buttons, knobs, and switches. An example of such a mechanically activated control is the “click button” on Apple Computer's iPod™. Capacitive sensing controls, which rely on a planar array of electronic sensors, are used in human interface elements such as linear sliders and touch wheels. An example of such a capacitive sensing control is the “scroll wheel” on the iPod™. Unfortunately, both mechanical controls and capacitive sensing controls present usability problems, especially in conditions in which users are ambulatory and, thus, only able to pay partial attention to the device controls. This is often the case when the user is involved in urban-pedestrian or athletic activity. Therefore, what is needed is an improved device for controlling consumer electronic devices such as portable media players.